Vos Virtual Network

Archive for April, 2008

For hundreds of years scientists have been asking the question: “Is there any credible scientific evidence supporting a testable hypothesis to explain the origin of life?”

In my research and observations for the past 30 years here is what I’ve observed:

We’ll talk more about this in upcoming articles.

Epistemology is the study of how one knows what they know. Do you know how you know stuff? What is knowledge? How is knowledge acquired? What do people really know, and how do they know it?

NOTE: I recently reorganized this blog with a new taxonomy. Epistemology is one of the new major categories. (The whole idea was to group all of my articles into major topics, and then tag the articles with meta tags – for the sub topics, etc.) Some people might have been thinking… “Hey Dude, what’s up with the big words?” Someone might have been thinking… “I don’t even know what epistemology means, so I won’t click on that word.” In the midst of this, I also spelled epistemology wrong (previously spelled epistimology), so now I’m correcting my mistake, and cleaning up the tags.

Epistemology – The study of theories about knowledge; a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge.

Blues harmonica done right! It’s fun to listen to. I love music with an aggressive attitude; played by a musician with an opinion of how it should sound. Bluesy music sounds better played by people with a ‘bad attitude’. What am I trying to say? What does that mean? It’s more than just bending a few notes, or adding more cowbell. At the heart of grooveology is improvisation; taking a risk.

I’ve been pondering the mysteries of musical creativity (innovation, improvisation) as it relates to creativity, and risk taking in other domains. This is a huge topic; it won’t fit in one article — but let’s get started and see where it leads.

“Musical improvisers often understand the idiom of one or more musical styles — e.g. blues, rock, folk, jazz — and work within the idiom to express ideas with creativity and originality. When done well, it often elicits gratifying emotional responses from the audience.” – from Improvisation, Wikipedia

When a skilled musician begins to improvise, the results can be amazing. Take a guitar drifting lesson from Andy McKee.

What do you think of Andy McKee’s style? Would you say Andy has an unconventional style? People are fascinated by his musical style because his methodology is new, unique, and innovative. He takes risks. He innovates. He improvises. He abuses the classical guitar methodology so badly, that one can barely recognize it. Andy has an amazing attitude, and a unique opinion about how the guitar should be played.

Star Parker, founder of the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Eduction ( CURE ), has written 3 books. Uncle Sam’s Plantation, published in 2003, is her second book. ISBN:0785262199

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. [ Wikipedia article about Star Parker ]

Back Cover Synopsis:

“America has two economic systems: capitalism for the rich and socialism for the poor. This double-minded approach seems to keep the poor enslaved to poverty while the rich get richer. In Uncle Sam’s Plantation, Star Parker offers simple yet profound steps that will allow the nation’s poor to go from entitlement and slavery to empowerment and freedom. Parker shares her own amazing journey up from the lower rungs of the economic system and addresses the importance of extending the free market system to this neglected group of people.”

Gary from Kansas City says: “This lady is bold and very aware of what is going on in America, especially in the black community. She is saying what everyone’s thinking but afraid to say.”

Jason Sheck says: “Growing up a ‘privileged white male’ allowed for me to become complacent and uninformed of America’s most significant social ills. Star Parker’s book has totally showed me the reality that people are facing everyday in this country.”

Tucker Anderson says:

Star Parker doesn’t hesitate to speak truth to power, since she has the credentials to do so. She has lived the self destructive and joyless life so prevalent in the welfare community and she has overcome incredible obstacles (often self imposed). Thus, while anyone can fairly disagree with her often controversial conclusions and recommendations, she clearly has the moral legitimacy to present them. These are insights invariably gained from personal experience and sharpened by an inquiring mind.

… the book describes the devastating effects of government dependency not from an academic perspective but rather through the eyes of someone who has escaped from the addiction which entraps so many individuals. The book is almost conversational in tone, yet provides many powerful philosophical insights and much well reasoned discussion. At times, some of the imagery created by the author’s prose almost becomes poetic. While I was familiar with both the author’s background and much of her philosophy, I still found the book both enjoyable and thought provoking.

Mr. Club Soda says:

… a once free people are inexorably drawn into the bondage of the nanny state and the soft bigotry of lowered expectations. Star Parker, a black woman who was once a slave to the cycle of welfare and abortion, calls it Uncle Sam’s Plantation, which is an apt description of the powerful force government’s endorsement of vice and misery has on regular people, and particularly the disadvantaged.

The book is also referenced in the International Journal of Public Administration, Volume 30, Number 1, January 2007, pp. 77-93

Abstract:

“African-American and Latino under-representation in the Information Technology (IT) industry appears to be perpetuated throughout institutions in society. An examination of the institutional and ideological social forces which arguably perpetuate the exclusion of African Americans and Latinos from greater representation in the IT field will be provided.”